What Does It Matter?
by victorwonder
Summary: Cage tries to answer Rita's question, "What does it matter what happens to me?" Fair warning! *SPOILERS WITHIN* Rated T, just to be safe.


A/N: This story deals with current happenings and flashbacks so I wasn't too sure how to structure the story in a way that's not going to confuse readers. There's only one flashback, a repeated event that's already happened from Cage's point of view, which mirrors the current event that is happening.

Also took the feedback from my previous fic on story-formatting so in that respect, this story looks a little different, reading-wise.

Anyway ...

***SPOILER ALERT* **Fair warning! Dialogue and scenes from the movie are used as the foundation of this story. Spoilers will rob you of the movie's awesomeness :)

* * *

**Edge of Tomorrow: What Does It Matter?**

"What does it matter what happens to me?" Rita questioned suspiciously.

Rita began to realize the emotional attachment Cage seemed to have with her. She knew all too well what seemed to be happening as she once experienced it herself; a time when she had the power, when she was the one that remembered everything and everyone else did not.

"_Do you love me?_" she pondered as she waited for a response, wondering how many times they've met over and over, with him the only one with memories.

As soon as Cage heard the question, his thoughts immediately returned to the previous time-reset, trying to answer the very same question he's being asked now.

* * *

"What does it matter what happens to me?" Rita questioned suspiciously, seated at the cockpit of the helicopter.

"I'm stuck with you," Cage cried out.  
"Wait, wait, wait," he called out, as he saw Rita about to take-off.  
"Listen, please, just listen for a second," he pleaded.  
"Just this once, give me a moment. This was YOUR plan," he yelled out in frustration.

Cage was filled with mixed emotions. Rita was beginning to see what was happening. For a moment, a memory struck her, and was reminded of a time she started caring for someone. How do you handle the emotional attachments that begin to develop when you know so much about someone in the span of day due to some error in the normal flow of time? How do you share that experience when what was real becomes almost like a dream? She knew what Cage must be feeling. Empathetic, she sat in silence, waiting for him to continue.

"I didn't ask for this," Cage began his tirade.  
"I'm sure you didn't ask to become the Angel of Verdun either, but here we are."  
"You asked me for my help. I'm here."  
"I'm here eve-ry-day and everyday I meet you."  
"Then I die, and I remember everything," Cage ended, taking a brief moment to catch his breath.

Rita understood all too well where this was going but continued to sit in silence, her curiosity momentarily taking over her instinctive desire to end the situation. Cage continued to talk.

"You asked me how many times we've been here?"  
"Too many. It always ends the same. You die," Cage expressed with concern.

Rita could not let this continue.

"I love you!" Cage blurted out in desperation as Rita was about to take-off.  
"_What the hell am I saying?_" Cage thought to himself.

The words came out effortlessly as a means to distract or confuse Rita. Whether or not he meant it was uncertain. Cage shook his head and cleared his thoughts, convincing himself it was just a strategy. He needed time, a luxury most people took for granted. The next time-reset was looming and Cage was thinking on his feet, improvising with every change that occurred as time unfolded with different outcomes. He needed to fix this moment, a time of particular importance to him.

Taken aback, Rita sat in silence, not knowing how to respond. It seemed Cage's distraction worked but he did not know what to do next. Panic raced through his head. He knew that at any moment, Rita was going to take-off and her death will be repeated once more. Cage hurriedly searched for words.

"You matter," Cage shouted.  
"As long as we are alive, you matter," Cage continued, emphasizing the word, "_we_" as a collective term for the human race and that they are a part of it.  
"You wanna know why?" Cage asked without waiting for a response.  
"You inspire people. That's your true power, not the one you got from the aliens," he stated with conviction.

Cage continued to ramble, desperately searching for the right words.

"You inspired me."  
"It's the people we fight for that makes us strong."  
"It's the people around us that makes us formidable."  
"It's the people I care for ..." Cage paused a moment and looked around himself, trying to shake the emotional high that was overwhelming him.  
"... that makes me invincible."  
"That's what frightens them" Cage reasoned, trying to convince Rita of her importance.  
"What does it matter what happens to you?" Cage repeated Rita's question, diverting his ramblings back on point.  
"It matters to me what happens to you."  
"It matters to the people you have inspired."  
"It matters to countless more you will never meet."

Cage took a deep breath to recover from his emotional anguish. Rita looked at Cage admiringly. The two gazed at each other in complete silence. Rita's teary-eyes gleamed and her tears began to stream down her cheeks as she blinked. Suddenly, Cage's expression turned to shock. Rita took a deep breath and looked at Cage one last time, a sense of goodbye emanating from her fleeting, bittersweet happiness. Cage knew from that point that there was nothing he could do. He realized that this day would end the same as all the others.

"I wish you didn't know me," Rita whispered to herself, understanding.

* * *

Cage's focus returned to the present. The feelings he had for Rita were evident. He had only told her once, that four-letter word of affection. It did nothing to change her mind, the day always ending with her death; Rita Vrataski, once just a picture on a wall, now the most significant person in his life.

Cage didn't know how to answer the question. _What does it matter what happens to me_? The question echoed in his mind. He knew that anything he said would not change Rita's mind. He looked at her eyes and spoke from his heart.

"I wish I didn't know you, but I do," Cage answered, confirming Rita's suspicions.

Cage knew her too well while Rita knew very little about him. All she could sense was his noble transformation, apparent to her now. The way Cage cared so much about her could only mean one thing; she was the cause of his heartache. She wanted to comfort him but didn't know how. She did not want to mislead him. She could not allow herself to falsely return his affections. Rita stared at Cage's eyes, hoping he would understand what she was about to do.

"_I wish I didn't know you, but I do_," Cage repeated in his head. The moment he uttered those words, he could see in Rita's eyes that nothing had changed. Cage felt helpless. Like the other previous time-resets, Rita started the helicopter, which alerted the mimic nearby. As always, Cage did all he could and in the ensuing struggle, always ending the life of his angel but something extraordinary happened, something that would forever confirm the truth of what he was feeling.

"Rose. My middle-name is Rose," Rita revealed in final desperation, using her last dying breath to reciprocate Cage's affections for her, and for the briefest of moments, Rita realized she did not have to falsely return his affections because the feeling was mutual, a revelation she wished she had realized sooner.

"_I wish I didn't know you._" The words echoed in Cage's mind as he grasped Rita's cold, lifeless hand. It was just an expression. He did not actually wish that. Getting to know Rita over and over was not something he would wish away. His only wish was to be remembered by the woman that had changed him, the woman that had made him a better man. Cage could not remember how many times he tried to save her, only that he could not. No matter what he tried, it always ended the same. He felt helpless, despite the fact that he could keep repeating the day over and over. How many times must he repeat the event? How many times must he watch her die? He loved her and was determined to find a way to save her.

"Rita Rose Vrataski, I will succeed," Cage tried to convince himself, just before a storm of mimics ended his life, forcing him to reset time once again. Repeated events etched in his memory had made him an expert at avoiding delays when he had to once again find Rita but this time, he could not find it in himself to approach her. Cage walked away, exhausted from caring. He was too tired to continue and decided to give himself some breathing space, time to collect his thoughts and be alone. He knew he did not want to see any harm come to his angel. Maybe it was time to let her be. Maybe it was him, the one constant in Rita's life at that moment in time, that was the cause of her inevitable demise. Maybe if she didn't know him, things will work out in the end.

"Goodbye my angel," he whispered to himself, defeated and forlorn.

**THE END**

* * *

A/N (final): While this is a sad ending, we all know (or at least hinted at) that a happy ending is on the horizon for our two time-crossed lovers :D


End file.
